Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 8,674 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 251,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,674 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Aflac were worth $27,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AFL. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Aflac in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Navalign LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AFL opened at $120.05 on Tuesday. Aflac Incorporated has a twelve month low of $96.95 and a twelve month high of $120.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $115.95 and its 200-day moving average is $112.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.61.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The financial services provider reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Aflac had a net margin of 25.60% and a return on equity of 13.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 7.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Barclays set a $99.00 target price on shares of Aflac and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aflac from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Aflac from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Post Holdings Co. Ltd. Japan sold 166,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.38, for a total transaction of $18,655,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,723,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,641,978. The trade was a 0.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,082,471 shares of company stock worth $124,943,184 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) is a provider of supplemental insurance products designed to help policyholders manage out-of-pocket health care and living expenses. The company underwrites a range of individual and group policies that typically pay cash benefits directly to insureds when covered events occur, enabling greater financial flexibility for medical treatment, hospital stays, critical illness, and related costs. Aflac’s product mix includes supplemental health insurance, life insurance and other specialty coverages intended to complement primary medical plans.

Founded in the mid-20th century and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac distributes its products through a combination of employer-sponsored programs, independent brokers and agents, and direct marketing.